St Liberalis of Brive

Bishop. Saint Liberalis was born at the end of the ninth century in Brive, in southwest France. Little is known about his early life. As a young man he sought a life of solitude and prayer and went to live in the mountains as a hermit near the city of Embrun.

The clergy and people there came to recognize his great humility, his holiness and other virtues, and he was eventually chosen to become the city's bishop. Liberalis proved to be a most devoted and popular pastor and served the city until his death in 940.

His body is enshrined in the ancient parish church of his native city of Brive, in the diocese of Tulle. For many centuries the city has commemorated him on this day.

(picture: The Chapel of St Liberalis in Brive)